Goal oriented travel planning system

ABSTRACT

A travel system for processing travel requests based on a user&#39;s travel destination goal such as a meeting place and time. The travel system selects a destination terminal, if one is not provided, and estimates a travel time between the destination terminal and the destination goal. An itinerary is then built interactively with the user selecting air, bus or train transportation, ground transportation, and, optionally, hotels, restaurants, and activities.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention generally relates to travel processing systemsand, more particularly, to a system for receiving a traveler's travelgoals and determining possible travel options by searching a traveldatabase.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Computer systems for arranging airline travel are commonly used.Existing reservation systems allow a traveler or user to select the daysthat they wish to travel and their origination and destination sites.Based on these selections, the system tells the user both the faresavailable and the companies offering the fares.

[0005] These existing systems require the traveler to guess at what timethey need to arrive at the destination airport to reach their finaldestination, such as the location of a meeting, on time. The travelermust determine the time required to travel from the airport to the finaldestination site and research what types of ground transportation areavailable at the destination airport. The traveler must then researchwhich hotels, restaurants, and other activities are close to their finaldestination point of interest and make separate reservations.

[0006] Based on the above limitations of existing systems, it isdesirable to improve travel processing systems to provide greaterassistance to the traveler.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] Systems and methods consistent with the present invention includestructure and acts for processing travel requests based on a user'stravel destination goal. That is, the user inputs a travel goal (e.g.,the time and location of a meeting) and the system automaticallygenerates a travel itinerary, including flight information, hotelinformation, and ground transportation such as rental cars, to ensurethat the user accomplishes their travel goal (e.g., arrives at themeeting on time).

[0008] In accordance with systems and methods consistent with thepresent invention, a traveler's itinerary is generated interactivelywith a user by selecting flights, hotels, transportation, and otheractivities. To generate such an itinerary, the user first inputs a goal,like a meeting place and time. The travel system selects a destinationairport, if one is not provided, and estimates a travel time between thedestination airport and the destination goal. The travel systemdetermines recommended flights and ground transportation to the user bysearching a travel database having data on both and then displays therecommendations to the user. Similarly, restaurant and activityinformation may also be found in the database, and as such, appropriaterecommendations may be displayed to the user based on user-designatedconstraints or default constraints.

[0009] In one embodiment of the present invention, systems and methodsare provided for processing travel requests including structure or stepsfor receiving a user's travel goal specifying a destination location andan appointment time and determining a time of arrival necessary at adestination airport sufficient to ensure that the user arrives at thedestination location at the appointment time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in andconstitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theobjects, advantages, and principles of the invention.

[0011] In the drawings,

[0012]FIG. 1 depicts a data processing system suitable for use bysystems and methods consistent with the present invention;

[0013]FIG. 2a depicts a flow chart of the steps performed by the travelsystem consistent with the present invention;

[0014]FIG. 2b depicts a sample screen display for entering travelparameters consistent with the present invention;

[0015]FIG. 3a depicts a flow chart of the steps performed when selectingflights consistent with the present invention;

[0016]FIG. 3b depicts a sample screen display showing a map andavailable flights consistent with the present invention;

[0017]FIG. 3c depicts a sample screen display showing the interior of aplane for the user to select a seat consistent with the presentinvention;

[0018]FIG. 4a depicts a flow chart of the steps performed when selectinghotels consistent with the present invention;

[0019]FIG. 4b depicts a sample screen display showing a map with a hotellocation and other information about the hotel consistent with thepresent invention;

[0020]FIGS. 5a and 5 c depict flow charts of the steps for selectingground transportation consistent with the present invention;

[0021]FIG. 5b depicts a sample screen display showing groundtransportation information consistent with the present invention;

[0022]FIG. 6a depicts a flow chart of the steps for selectingrestaurants and activities consistent with the present invention;

[0023]FIG. 6b depicts a sample screen display showing restaurantrecommendations consistent with the present invention;

[0024]FIG. 7 depicts a flow chart of the steps for reviewing andapproving an itinerary consistent with the present invention;

[0025]FIG. 8a depicts a flow chart of the steps for relaxing constraintsconsistent with the present invention;

[0026]FIG. 8b depicts a sample screen display showing an itinerary andcriteria the user may adjust;

[0027]FIG. 8c depicts a sample screen display of additional criteria theuser may designate as flexible consistent with the present invention;and

[0028]FIG. 8d depicts a sample screen display of an original itineraryand a reviewed itinerary based on relaxed constraints.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Reference will now be made in detail to the construction andoperation of implementations consistent with the present inventionillustrated in the accompanying drawings. In those drawings, likeelements and operations are designated with the same reference numeralswhere possible.

[0030] Systems consistent with the present invention provide a travelsystem that generates a user's travel itinerary based on the user'stravel goal. In one implementation, the travel itinerary includes airtransportation; however in other implementations the itinerary includesa different type of transportation service where a third party providesscheduled transportation to consumers using a facility that carriesconsumers in groups, such as a train or bus. The travel system generatesthe itinerary interactively with a user by selecting, in one case,flights, hotels, ground transportation, restaurants, events, and otheractivities. A user need only input a goal, including a destination andrequired time to be at that destination, and based on this goalinformation, the travel system presents the user with alternatives thatallow the user to meet these criteria. Other convenient information ispresented to the user that is specifically tailored to the users' travelplans, including hotels, restaurants, and activities in the vicinity ofthe users travel goal.

[0031] In using the travel system, the user initially inputs thedestination time and site and an origination site. The travel systemthen estimates the time necessary to arrive at a destination airport toreach the destination site at the designated time. After making theestimate, the travel system sends display data to a display located atthe user's site for displaying travel options, including potentialdeparture and arrival flights, hotels, restaurants and activities.

[0032] A goal can include multiple stops in one location at differenttimes, multiple cities, multiple meetings in multiple cities, non-roundtrip travel, and round trip travel. The processing of a goal thatrequires several different stops in different locations is performed insteps. For example, if a user wishes to travel from New York to SanFrancisco to Seattle, the travel from New York to San Francisco isprocessed first and then travel from San Francisco to Seattle isprocessed as discussed below. For clarity the only type of goals used inthe examples below are between a single origination to a singledestination. The system may easily be altered to process many differentgoal combinations.

[0033]FIG. 1 depicts a data processing system 50 for use with systemsand methods consistent with the present invention, although other systemconfigurations are contemplated. The data processing system 50 comprisesa user computer 100 connected to travel computer 120 via a communicationlink 150, such as a direct network link, a modem, or the Internet. Thetravel computer 120 is connected to a computerized reservation system(CRS) 130 via communication link 160. Both the travel computer 120 andCRS 130 have access to a travel database 140.

[0034] Travel database 140 represents a plurality of databasescontaining many different types of data including, for example, flightinformation, hotel information, ground transportation information,activity information, airport information, map information, and traveldistance and time information. Travel database 140 may be maintained bytravel computer 120 or CRS 130. Travel database 140 may be a virtualdatabase, including data from multiple sources, for example, servers onthe world wide web.

[0035] The user computer 100 has a central processing unit (CPU) 102, amemory 104, an input device 105, and a display 106. The memory 104contains a presentation program 108 that displays various screens to theuser via the display 106, receives input from the user, and sends thisinput to the travel computer 120. Available applications suitable forthese purposes include Internet browsers such as the Netscape Navigator.

[0036] Travel computer 120 includes an input device 109, display 113, aCPU 110, and a memory 112. The memory 112 includes the travel system 114of an exemplary implementation. The travel system 114 processes travelrequests from the presentation programs on user computers and storesinformation about travel options. The travel system 114 includes an airtransportation subsystem (ATS) 116 that selects flights or flights andprices, a hotel subsystem (HS) 118 that selects a hotel, an activity andrestaurant subsystem (ARS) 122 that identifies restaurants andactivities in the vicinity of the hotel or the destination site, aground transportation subsystem (GTS) 124 that selects suitable groundtransportation, a constraint relaxation subsystem (CR) 126 for relaxingsearch constraints, and a reservation confirmation system (RCS) 128 thatverifies the travel selections and confirms any reservations.

[0037] CRS 130 is an existing transportation standard system thatmaintains information in a travel database 140 that relates to travelflight times and fares for each of the different airlines among otherflight information. Reservations are made through CRS 130. CRS 130manages flight reservation information based on each user's desiredorigination-to-destination journey. CRS 130 generally arranges,organizes, and stores this data in a format generally corresponding tothe dominant travel routing patterns, in which a carrier accepts apassenger at a first, origination location and discharges the passengerat a terminal or destination location.

[0038] Booking a flight through CRS 130 involves creating a computerrecord called a name record. As flights are booked for differentcarriers, the system sends a message with the flight information to theairline's computers. The name record is used to generate tickets andstore itineraries.

[0039] In accordance with the present invention, a user inputs travelparameters to the presentation program 108 on the user computer 100,which parameters are sent to the travel system 114 on the travelcomputer 120 for processing. The user may use a graphical user interface(GUI) to interface with the user computer 100, enter travel parametersand view travel information. These travel parameters include adestination, such as both the location of a meeting and the time of themeeting, and the user's origination site. Additionally, the user mayinput other parameters, such as an origination airport, originationcity, destination city, destination airport, required arrival date andtime, duration of visit, or required return time or date. For example,the user may indicate that he wishes to arrive at 123 Main St., New Yorkat three o'clock in the afternoon and that he is leaving fromWashington, D.C. The user may also designate additional preferences,such as leaving from National Airport and arriving in LaGuardia Airportin New York. A user's profile may also be maintained in the memory 112or an external storage system accessible by the travel computer 120 orthe user computer 100 which includes travel preferences, such aspreferred seats, airports, airlines, airplanes, modes of groundtransportation such as rental cars, price range, or a seat class. Afterinputting the various parameters, the travel system generates anitinerary that ensures the user will arrive at the destination site ontime in the manner he prefers.

[0040] A process consistent with one implementation of the presentinvention will now be described in connection with FIGS. 2-8. Theprocess steps may be performed in many different orders, only one ofwhich is illustrated. FIG. 2a depicts a flowchart of the general stepsof the travel system 114 of one embodiment of the present invention.First, the travel system 114 receives travel parameters from the user ofthe user computer 100 via the presentation program 108 (step 200). FIG.2b shows an example initial screen displayed by the presentation program108 to the user. Using this screen, the user may enter destinationinformation such as an address, city, state, and time of appointment.After receiving the parameters, travel system 114 invokes the airtransportation subsystem 116 to select flights or flights and prices(step 210). Travel system 114 then determines whether an overnight stayis necessary by determining whether the departure and return dates arethe same (step 220). If different, the hotel subsystem 118 is invoked toselect a hotel (step 230). The travel system 114 then determines whetherit has received an indication from the presentation program of whetherthe user wants activity and restaurant information (step 235). If theuser requests activity and restaurant information, the travel system 114invokes the activity and restaurant subsystem 122 to find restaurantsand activities in the vicinity of the selected hotel or the destinationsite (step 240). After invoking the activity and restaurant subsystem122 (step 240), or if the user does not want activity and restaurantinformation (step 235), travel system 114 invokes the groundtransportation subsystem 124, which allows the user to select groundtransportation such as cars (step 250). Finally, travel system 114invokes the reservation confirmation system 128 allowing the user toverify travel selections and confirm reservations with the providers(step 260).

[0041]FIG. 3a shows more detailed steps of the air transportationsubsystem 116 according to one embodiment of the present invention.First, the air transportation subsystem (ATS) 116 receives the user'stravel parameters from the travel system 114 (step 300). Then ATS 116identifies the destination airport closest to the destination, if theclosest airport was not provided by the user (step 305). Based on theidentified destination airport and the destination site, ATS 116 refersto data in travel database 140 to determine a distance between thedestination airport and the destination site (step 310).

[0042] ATS 116 determines what ground transportation alternatives areavailable at the destination airport by referring to travel database 140(step 320). ATS 116 determines the minimum and maximum ground traveltime from the destination airport to the destination based on thedistance between the airport and the destination, the modes oftransportation available, the time of day of the travel, taking intoaccount possible flight delays (step 330).

[0043] Based on the user's preferred arrival time at the destination andknowing the minimum and maximum time for ground travel between thedestination airport and the destination, ATS 116 can calculate a flightarrival time at the destination airport. ATS 116 then searches traveldatabase 140 for flights from the origination airport to the destinationairport that arrive at the flight arrival time to find flightalternatives available to the user and sends this information to thepresentation program for display to the user (step 340). Thepresentation programs also display seat alternatives for the availableflights.

[0044] After displaying this information, the user may select apreferred flight and seat, and the presentation program sends theseselections to ATS 116 (step 350). ATS 116 searches for return flightalternatives and sends data reflecting the same to the presentationprogram 108 (step 360). The presentation program 108 displays thisinformation to the user, who may then pick a preferred return flightwhich is reported to ATS 116 (step 370) and select a seat which isreported to ATS 116 (step 375). Step 360 may be skipped if the user isnot returning to the origination location. In addition the return flightsearch may be replaced by a next destination flight search if the useris moving on to another location.

[0045]FIGS. 3b-3 c show example screen displays presented on display 106by presentation program 108. FIG. 3b shows a screen display with a mapof the location of the destination and location of the destinationairport. FIG. 3b also shows available flights and their times and pricesfrom the origination city to the destination city. FIG. 3c shows apicture of the plane so that the user may select a seat.

[0046] Referring again to FIG. 3a, if the user has not found a suitableflight, the user may indicate to run the constraint relaxation subsystem(CR) 126 (step 377). If the user so indicates, ATS 116 runs the CR 126subsystem to allow the user to consider alternative flights and toselect one (step 380). After selecting a flight in either step 350 orstep 370, ATS 116 will select or book selected flights using CR 126(step 390) and will update an itinerary that is maintained with all thechoices made by the user (step 395).

[0047]FIG. 4a is a flow chart of the steps performed by the hotelsubsystem 118 (HS). HS 118 recommends hotels based on their proximity tothe destination and any other parameters either set by the user or heldin a user profile (step 400). HS 118 sends presentation program 108 amap for display that shows the location of the hotel (step 410).Geographic databases are commonly available that show streets and otherlandmarks. Also included in the display data is other informationavailable in the database 140 about the hotel including hotel amenities(step 420). FIG. 4b shows a map including the location of the selectedhotel relative to the location of the destination (i.e., the marker for“Your Appointment”), and information about the hotel. HS 118 receivesdata from presentation program 108 indicating whether the user hasaccepted one of the recommendations or rejected all of them (step 430).The user may accept one of the recommendations or reject all therecommendations. If the user does not accept any of the recommendations,the CR 126 re-executes searches using relaxed constraints and is usedhere to look for a larger range of hotels (step 440) and processingcontinues with step 400. If HS 118 determines that the user selected ahotel, then HS 118 reserves the hotel using CRS 130 (step 450) and theitinerary is updated (step 460).

[0048]FIG. 5a shows the steps performed by the ground transportationsubsystem 124 (GTS) for selecting ground transportation from thedestination airport to the destination or to a selected hotel. GTS 124sends the presentation program 108 display data for displaying a mapshowing the destination airport location, a destination location and aselected hotel location (step 500). The display shown in FIG. 4bincludes such an example map display. The user may select one of severaldifferent types of transportation. The order in which the user ispresented with the available modes of transportation is based on theground transportation subsystems's recommended mode and a user'spreferred mode as designated in a user travel profile. GTS 124 selects apreferred mode for a location from travel database 140. For example, ifthe user is traveling to New York City, renting a car is the leastpreferred mode of transportation. It is preferable to take publictransportation or private transportation given the lack of parking. Theuser has the option of accepting the recommendation or choosing analternative.

[0049] In FIG. 5a, GTS 124 sends display data to presentation program108 providing the user the option of renting a car (step 510). If theuser decides to rent a car, then GTS 124 sends display data representingrental car recommendations found in travel database 140 (step 515). FIG.5b shows an example display on display 106 by presentation program 108showing a rental car company and information about the car and allowsthe user the option of reserving it. The user may then select a rentalcar (step 516) and a reservation is made (step 518). After making thereservation, the rental car is added to the itinerary (step 519). If theuser did not select any of the displayed rental car recommendations,then GTS 124 invokes CR 126, broadening the scope of the search for therental car recommendations by relaxing any constraints such as cost(step 517).

[0050] If the user chooses public transportation, GTS 124 sendspresentation program 108 display data asking the user if he wishes toselect public transportation (step 520), and if so, GTS 124 providesdisplay data listing public transportation recommendations (step 522).The user may select a public transportation mode (step 524) that is thenadded to the itinerary (step 528). Otherwise, GTS 124 invokes CR 126relaxing constraints in the search (step 526).

[0051]FIG. 5c shows additional steps of the ground transportationsystem. After determining if the user has selected publictransportation, GTS 124 receives an indication from user computer 100 asto whether the user selects private transportation (step 530). If so,GTS 124 sends display data to presentation program 108 of availableprivate transportation (step 532). The user may select one of theavailable private transportations using input device 105 (step 534) andif found to be reservable by GTS 124 (step 537) a reservation is made byGTS 124 (step 538). GTS 124 adds the transportation to the itinerary(step 539). If it is not reservable, then it is merely added to theitinerary (step 539). If the user did not select any of the modes oftransportation, then GTS 124 skips the selection of groundtransportation (step 540).

[0052] In one embodiment, at any time the user changes their mind anddecides not to pursue a transportation type, the user may enter anindication of the same and enter a different transportation branch.

[0053]FIG. 6a shows the general steps for recommending restaurants andactivities around the destination by the activity and restaurantsubsystem (ARS) 122. ARS 122 refers to a database of restaurants andactivities and their addresses held within travel database 140. If auser desires to select a restaurant (step 600) then ARS 122 sendsdisplay data to presentation program 108 to display a screen depictingrestaurants by searching for geographically close restaurants to thehotel or destination and searching any other constraints entered by theuser such as the type of food, amenities, ratings in the travel database(step 610). In this step, ARS 122 sends display data to presentationprogram 108 which displays a screen like the one shown in FIG. 6B. Thisscreen depicts various restaurants and various features of therestaurants, like average meal cost, level of cleanliness, type of food,etc. The user makes various selections on this screen and the activityand restaurant subsystem performs various processing in response tothese selections.

[0054] After displaying this screen, the user may enter a selectionusing input device 105 and presentation program reports the result toARS 122 (step 615). If the user did not select a restaurant, then ARS122 invokes CR 126 to allow the user to change any of variousconstraints on the selection of restaurants (step 620). Otherwise, ifthe user did select a restaurant and if the restaurant acceptsreservations (step 625), ARS 122 makes a reservation (step 630), and therestaurant is added to the itinerary (step 635).

[0055] The user may request information about events and activities. IfARS 122 determines that the user requested information about events oractivities (step 640), then ARS 122 searches for events and activitiesthat meet any constraints placed by the user, such as requestingshopping or movies, and any found events and activities within adesignated distance of the hotel, airport or destination are displayed(step 650). The user may select an event or an activity (step 655) andif reservable (step 665), the ARS 122 makes a reservation (step 670) andit is added to the itinerary (step 675). If no activity or event isselected, ARS 122 invokes CR 126 allowing the user to change anyconstraints on the types of activities or locations of activities orevents (step 660). If the user does not wish to select any restaurantsor activities, then the selection of restaurants or activities isskipped and processing continues (step 680).

[0056]FIG. 7 depicts a flow chart of the steps performed by thereservation confirmation system (RCS) 128, which allows a user to reviewan itinerary. Once the itinerary is complete, RCS 128 sends display datato presentation program 108 which in turn displays the itinerary for theuser to review (step 700). The user indicates using input device 105whether the itinerary is acceptable (step 710). If the itinerary is notacceptable, the user may alter the itinerary and reenter any of thedecision subsystems (step 720). If the itinerary is acceptable, RCS 128places the itinerary along with the associated restaurant, the maps andany other available information in a trip portfolio for printing, faxingor e-mailing or delivering to the user using any means desired by theuser (step 730).

[0057]FIG. 8a depicts a flow chart of the steps performed by CR 126. CR126 reviews a database query and allows the constraints in the query tobe changed or automatically changes the constraints. If constraints inthe query were continuous (step 800), such as a distance or time, thenCR 126, either automatically or with user's input adjusts theconstraint. For example, if the query is to find a restaurant with theconstraint of being within 5 miles of a given hotel, the distanceconstraint may automatically be adjusted to 15 miles and the query rerunand the new results displayed on display 106 by presentation program 108(step 810). If the previous constraints were discrete (step 820), suchas food type, then the discrete constraint is changed by requesting anew entry from the user or using a default entry. For example, if thesearch is for restaurant with the food type of Italian, the constraintmay be changed to American, and the query rerun and results displayed(step 830). If there were both discrete and continuous constraints inthe last query search (step 840), then both may be relaxed separately asdiscussed above (step 850) and the new results displayed. If the userdoes not wish to change any of the constraints, processing may againcontinue (step 860). Many different parameters may be adjusted in CR126, such as flight times, airports, flight fares, airlines, or seatclass.

[0058]FIGS. 8b-8 d show example screen displays of data displayed ondisplay 106 by presentation program 108 based on display data sent by CR126. FIG. 8b shows an example screen display of an itinerary andcriteria that may be adjusted. FIG. 8c includes additional criteria forthe user to adjust by indicating a degree of flexibility. FIG. 8 d showsan example screen display with the original itinerary and alternativeitineraries based on the relaxed constraints.

[0059] There are many variations that may be made in accordance with thepresent invention. For example, the system could allow the user to entermany different types of criteria. The system may accept input in adifferent order, for example if the return date is of importance theuser return flight may be selected before departure flight.

[0060] The example implementations above specifically mention airtravel, however, the present invention may be used in conjunction withany type of travel including trains and buses. Similarly all referencesto airport may alternatively be any transportation terminal.

[0061] The foregoing description of an implementation of the inventionis presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notexhaustive and does not limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practicing the invention. Forexample, the described implementation includes software, but the presentinvention may be implemented as a combination of hardware and softwareor on hardware alone. The scope of the invention is defined by theclaims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A data processing system for processing travelrequests using a travel database, comprising: a memory including programinstructions; and a processor operating responsive to the programinstructions to: receive a travel goal specifying a destination locationand an appointment time for arrival at the destination location; accessthe travel database to locate travel information corresponding to thedestination location and the appointment time; and determine an arrivaltime within a vicinity of the destination location using the locatedtravel information to ensure arrival at the destination location by theappointment time.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein a plurality of travelstations are within the vicinity of the destination location, andwherein the processor further operates responsive to the programinstructions to: select one of the plurality of travel stations; anddetermine available modes of transportation between the selected travelstation and the destination location.
 3. The system of claim 2 whereinthe processor further operates responsive to the program instructionsto: display the available modes of transportation; and receive aselection of one of the available modes of transportation.
 4. The systemof claim 1 wherein the travel information includes a plurality of traveloptions available at the travel station, and wherein the processorfurther operates responsive to the program instructions to: select oneof the plurality of travel options that arrives at the travel station atthe time of arrival sufficient to ensure arrival at the destinationlocation by the appointment time.
 5. The system according to claim 4wherein the processor further operates responsive to the programinstructions to display data listing the plurality of travel options;and receive an indication of a selected travel conveyance.
 6. The systemaccording to claim 4 wherein the processor further operates responsiveto the program instructions to display data listing the plurality oftravel options; and receive an indication of a selected travel flight.7. The system according to claim 4, further comprising instructions to:maintain a profile of travel preferences, wherein the travel optionselection is based on the travel preferences.
 8. The system according toclaim 1 wherein the processor further operates responsive to the programinstructions to: receive a travel return date; and display a list ofreturn travel options from the travel station on the travel return date.9. The system according to claim 1 wherein the processor furtheroperates responsive to the program instructions to: determine whether anovernight stay is required; and display a list of hotels for selection.10. The system according to claim 9 wherein the processor furtheroperates responsive to the program instructions to: receive a selectionof one of the hotels; and reserve a room at the selected hotel.
 11. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein the processor further operates responsive tothe program instructions to locate restaurants in a vicinity of thedestination site.
 12. The system according to claim 11 wherein theprocessor further operates responsive to the program instructions to:search a restaurant database for restaurants in the vicinity of thedestination location.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the processorfurther operates responsive to the program instructions to locaterestaurants includes an instruction to: display the determinedrestaurants.
 14. The system according to claim 1 wherein the processorfurther operates responsive to the program instructions to locateactivities in a vicinity of the destination location.
 15. The system ofclaim 14 wherein the processor further operates responsive to theprogram instructions to locate activities includes an instruction to:search an activities database for the activities in the vicinity of thedestination location.
 16. The system of claim 14 wherein the processorfurther operates responsive to the program instructions to locateactivities includes an instruction to: display a list of the determinedactivities.
 17. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor furtheroperates responsive to the program instructions to provide travelinformation in accordance with the determined arrival time.
 18. Thesystem of claim 17 wherein the travel information includes geographicdata for travel between the travel station and the destination.
 19. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein the travel goal may include a plurality oflegs of travel each leg of travel including a different destinationlocation and appointment time for arrival at the destination location.20. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for processingtravel requests using a travel database by: receiving a travel goalspecifying a destination location and an appointment time for arrival atthe destination location; accessing the travel database to locate travelinformation corresponding to the destination location and theappointment time; and determining an arrival time within a vicinity ofthe destination location using the located travel information to ensurearrival at the destination location by the appointment time.
 21. Themedium of claim 20 wherein a plurality of travel stations are within avicinity of the destination location, and wherein the instruction fordetermining includes instructions to: select one of the plurality oftravel stations; and determine available modes of transportation betweenthe selected travel station and the destination location.
 22. The mediumof claim 21 wherein the instruction for determining available modes oftransportation further includes instructions to: display the availablemodes of transportation; and receive a selection of one of the availablemodes of transportation.
 23. The medium of claim 20 wherein a pluralityof travel options are available at a travel station, and wherein theinstruction for determining includes instructions to: select one of theplurality of travel options that arrives at the travel station at thetime of arrival sufficient to ensure arrival at the destination locationby the appointment time.
 24. The medium according to claim 23 whereinthe instruction for selecting further includes instructions to: displaydata listing the plurality of travel options; and receive an indicationof a selected travel conveyance.
 25. The medium according to claim 23wherein the instruction for selecting further includes instructions to:display data listing the plurality of travel options; and receive anindication of a selected travel flight.
 26. The medium according toclaim 23 further including instructions to: maintain a profile of travelpreferences, wherein the travel option selection is based on the travelpreferences.
 27. The medium according to claim 20 further includinginstructions to: receive a travel return date; and display a list ofreturn travel options from the travel station on the travel return date.28. The medium according to claim 20 further including instructions to:determine whether an overnight stay is required; and display a list ofhotels for selection.
 29. The medium according to claim 28 furtherincluding instructions to: receive a selection of one of the hotels; andreserve a room at the selected hotel.
 30. The medium of claim 20 furtherincluding an instruction to locate restaurants in a vicinity of thedestination site.
 31. The medium according to claim 30 wherein theinstruction to locate restaurants includes an instruction to: search arestaurant database for restaurants in the vicinity of the destinationlocation.
 32. The medium of claim 30, wherein the instruction to locaterestaurants includes an instruction to: display the determinedrestaurants.
 33. The medium according to claim 20 further including aninstruction to locate activities in a vicinity of the destinationlocation.
 34. The medium of claim 33 wherein the instruction to locateactivities includes an instruction to: search an activities database forthe activities in the vicinity of the destination location.
 35. Themedium of claim 33 wherein the instruction to locate activities includesan instruction to: display a list of the determined activities.
 36. Themedium of claim 20 further including an instruction to provide travelinformation in accordance with the determined arrival time.
 37. Themedium of claim 36 wherein the travel information includes geographicdata for travel between the travel station and the destination.
 38. Themedium of claim 21 wherein the travel goal may include a plurality oflegs of travel each leg of travel including a different destinationlocation and appointment time for arrival at the destination location.39. A method for processing travel requests using a travel databasecomprising the steps of: receiving a travel goal specifying adestination location and an appointment time arrival at the destinationlocation; accessing the travel database to locate travel informationcorresponding to the destination location and the appointment time; anddetermining an arrival time within a vicinity of the destinationlocation using the located travel information to ensure arrival at thedestination location by the appointment time.
 40. The method of claim 39wherein a plurality of travel stations are within a vicinity of thedestination location, and wherein the step for determining includessteps to: select one of the plurality of travel stations; and determineavailable modes of transportation between the selected travel stationand the destination location.
 41. The method of claim 40 wherein thestep for determining available modes of transportation further includessteps to: display the available modes of transportation; and receive aselection of one of the available modes of transportation.
 42. Themethod of claim 39 wherein a plurality of travel options are availableat a travel station, and wherein the step for determining includes thestep of: selecting one of the plurality of travel options that arrivesat the travel station at the time of arrival sufficient to ensurearrival at the destination location by the appointment time.
 43. Themethod according to claim 42 wherein the step for selecting furtherincludes steps to: display data listing the plurality of travel options;and receive an indication of a selected travel conveyance.
 44. Themethod according to claim 42 wherein the step for selecting furtherincludes steps to: display data listing the plurality of travel options;and receive an indication of a selected travel flight.
 45. The methodaccording to claim 42 further comprising the step of: maintaining aprofile of travel preferences, wherein the travel option selection isbased on the travel preferences.
 46. The method according to claim 39further including steps to: receive a travel return date; and display alist of return travel options from the travel station on the travelreturn date.
 47. The method according to claim 39 further includingsteps to: determine whether an overnight stay is required; and display alist of hotels for selection.
 48. The method according to claim 47further including steps to: receive a selection of one of the hotels;and reserve a room at the selected hotel.
 49. The method of claim 39further including the step of locating restaurants in a vicinity of thedestination site.
 50. The method according to claim 49 wherein the stepof locating restaurants includes the step of: searching a restaurantdatabase for restaurants in the vicinity of the destination location.51. The method of claim 49, wherein the step of locating restaurantsincludes the step of: displaying the determined restaurants.
 52. Themethod according to claim 39 further including the step of locatingactivities in a vicinity of the destination location.
 53. The method ofclaim 52 wherein the step of locating activities includes the step of:searching an activities database for the activities in the vicinity ofthe destination location.
 54. The method of claim 51 wherein the step oflocating activities includes the step of: displaying a list of thedetermined activities.
 55. The method of claim 39 further including astep of providing travel information in accordance with the determinedarrival time.
 56. The method of claim 55 wherein the travel informationincludes geographic data for travel between the travel station and thedestination.
 57. The method of claim 39 wherein the step of receiving atravel goal includes the steps of receiving a plurality of legs oftravel each leg of travel including a different destination location andappointment time for arrival at the destination location.
 58. A methodfor processing travel requests including the steps of: receiving atravel goal including a destination location and an appointment time;recommending a plurality of travel options and recommending a pluralityof secondary modes of transportation based on the travel goal; invokinga transportation decision system to select one of the plurality oftravel options and one of the secondary modes of ground transportationbased on the recommended travel options and the recommended secondaryground transportation; determining whether an overnight stay isrequired; invoking a hotel decision support system to select a hotelwhen it is determined that an overnight stay is required; and invokingan activity and restaurant decision support system to select activitiesand restaurants in a vicinity of the destination location.
 59. A memoryfor access by a computational entity being executed by a processorincluding: a transportation subsystem having instructions to selectmodes and times of transportation; a hotel subsystem having instructionsto select hotels in a vicinity of a destination site; activity andrestaurant subsystem having instructions to select activities orrestaurants near a destination site; and ground transportation subsystemhaving instructions to select ground transportation to a destinationsite.
 60. A system for searching for travel alternatives in a traveldatabase including: a memory including program instructions; and aprocessor operating responsive to the program instructions to: receive arequest indicating a travel plan; adjust the travel plan in accordancewith stored travel constraints; and search the travel database fortravel alternatives that meet the adjusted travel plan.